The men in white coats have been and gone, the votes have been counted and verified, and there really is no more than a hair’s breadth separating these two style icons.

Each week Cheryl and Dannii impress us with the glamorous and imaginative ways they display their luscious locks, but when we asked ‘Whose hair do you prefer?’ it seems the question polarised the nation in a way we thought only John and Edward could.

In the 48 hours you’ve had to cast your votes 6,270 have pledged your allegiance – either to the flowing mane of Cheryl Cole or the sophisticated bob of Dannii Minogue… and now we can reveal the results of the 2009 Battle of the barnets.

Dannii brushed-up nicely and received 3,091 of your ballots giving her a very respectable 49% of the vote… but streaking ahead with 3,179 pledges was Cheryl giving her a marginal 51% victory.

How close was that?

Next week we’ll ask you to vote on the new and inventive ways our other two judges style their hair… actually on second thoughts…

Source

It’s been a bit morbid around here lately, hasn’t it? It’s just struck me how many fascinating people met their (often messy) deaths in November. If you’re bummed out by all this self-harm and tragedy it’s probably time we dropped in on the Baron de Redé.

Alexis Dieter Rudolf Oscar von Rosenberg was born in 1922 of Jewish parents, though he was raised Protestant; his father, a banker, had been ennobled in the twilight of the Habsburg Empire. The young Alexis grew up in Zurich’s Dolder Hotel, where the family initially had a suite of 16 rooms (one of which was reserved for his mother’s flower arranging) but as the father’s fortune shrank so too did their quarters until eventually they were living in just two rooms. Alexis was nonetheless sent to the exclusive Le Rosey school where a fellow student, the future Shah of Iran, admired Alexis’s feminine charm, “which might belong a little to a rose”.

When his father went bankrupt and killed himself in 1939 (sorry! There was a bit of tragedy after all), Redé was left with the taste but not the means for luxury, so it was a stroke of luck that in New York just two years later he met Arturo Lopez-Wilshaw. This Chilean businessman, one of a wave of fabulously wealthy South Americans who rose to social prominence in Paris in the early 20^th century, made his fortune from potassium-rich guano deposits. Lopez-Wilshaw was smitten with Redé, and frankly someone who could turn shit into gold was just the kind of man the baron needed to finance his lifestyle. The offer of $1 million to return to Europe with him sealed the deal, though Lopez-Wilshaw’s wife Patricia was understandably less than delighted by this arrangement. “My relationship with Arturo and Patricia was complicated,” observed Redé with commendable restraint.

The baron with the Duchess of Windsor

In 1946 Redé moved to Paris. Anyone who has deplaned miserably at Charles de Gaulle and crawled through traffic-choked streets to their hotel can only envy Redé’s entrée into the city. Accompanied by society decorator Elsie de Wolfe, he was picked up in a Rolls Royce belonging to British Ambassador Duff Cooper and taken to top restaurant Le Grand Vefour, there encountering, among others, Jean Cocteau, the saloniste Marie-Laure de Noailles and Count Etienne de Beaumont, the great entertainer whose parties had even coaxed Proust out of his cork-lined room back in the day (the Baron’s own social events would become the talk of Paris, but we will return another time to admire his magnificent balls).

Rolling with a crew like that, you know Redé’s crib isn’t going to be anything ordinary. Shortly after his arrival the Baron rented an apartment in central Paris’s finest private residence, the Hôtel Lambert, which dominates the eastern tip of the Ile Saint-Louis. It was built by Louis Le Vau, whose CV also included that humble shack Versailles, and one of the conditions of Redé’s relatively modest rent was that he must help restore the building.

Sublime ghosts crowded the Baroque salons; Mozart, Chopin and Liszt had all played there and Redé’s bedroom had once been Voltaire’s. For himself, Redé claimed “I am not a philosopher,” but he was being too modest. True, his  memoirs are short on metaphysical enquiry, but his pursuit of opulence and refinement was so rigorous as to in itself constitute a model for living. “I lead a self-imposed life of luxury,” he announced, “style, courtesy and elegance are my prime considerations”.

Lopez-Wilshaw died in 1962, leaving the baron half his fortune and in 1975, the baron’s great friends Marie-Hélène and Guy de Rothschild bought the Lambert and Redé could relax, knowing that his hyperaestheticised existence was secure. He continued decorating the house as long as he lived, and the 2005 auction of his estate included such museum-quality pieces as a solid silver chair, agate snuff boxes and porcelain services of such value and rarity that they could only be washed up in the presence of insurance company representatives. His personal effects, including an Hermès money clip, silver newspaper tongs, a Cartier cigar cutter and a huge closet full of hand-made shoes were testament to the baron’s obsessive pursuit of domestic perfection. He even took his own sheets with him to hospital.

In the 21st century Redé had himself become something of a museum piece, remnant of a vanished milieu for whom a well-laid table was the greatest good to which humanity could aspire. “Most of the world moves too fast for hand-made shoes, and elegant luncheons,” he reflected sadly, before dying in 2004.

Meanwhile the Hôtel Lambert, having been bought by a member of the Qatari royal family, faces an uncertain future.

igor+andre

by Horst Diekgerdes

Hi all,

Just wanted to update and let you all know I haven’t forgotten about you and completing my story. Since my cuck is here, I will mot likely not be posting until he has left. I am travelling to Ourimbah next week and to Sydney for some shoots, so I will be updating next Tuesday if not sooner. Hang in there, here’s some classy photos I received on a disc in the meantime:

More shots from the shoot in Woolgoolga. I love how classy and nostalgic they look with the hat and smoke, all it needs is a glass of brandy and a fur coat. Hope you like til next time =)

XOX

QVC CEO Mike George

Then back in October, we couldn’t believe it when a sharp-eyed poster on QVC’s jewelry forum said that upscale jewelry designer Stephen Dweck, whose chunky gemstone masterpieces are featured in Neiman Marcus, was on the No. 1 home shopping network’s schedule. THE Stephen Dweck?

We checked QVC’s program guide ourselves, and there it was: Dweck was doing a lower-priced jewelry line for QVC called Dweck’s Diamonds. His Neiman Marcus pieces didn’t even have diamonds. The high-end stuff is made with semi-precious stones.

Also in October, we were checking the press releases on HSN’s Web site when we saw the network had struck a deal with one of the most famous and elite fashion houses: Badgley Mischka, designers of bejeweled gowns for the red carpet and celebrities.

We’ve written bits and pieces of this during the past two months, but we thought we’d tie it all up in a tidy package for Thanksgiving: There has been a sea change in the home shopping world, prompted by the disastrous economy and the crash of the luxury market.

Yes, home shopping networks have seen their sales hurt by the economy, like everyone else. But they claim they are still managing to steal market share from brick-and-mortar retailers. In fact, QVC is making a full-frontal assault on them this Black Friday, with 28 hours of special products and programming stunts starting Thanksgiving night.

The consumer press will continue to mention “cubic zirconia” in every story it writes about QVC or HSN, oblivious to the fact that some of the most esteemed names in fashion, jewelry and cosmetics — brands you find in Saks, Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus — are plying their wares on the aforementioned home shopping channels.

ShopNBC CEO Keith Stewart

Male journalists are blind to this. You still have the nerds at Gawker, a snide Web Site for the navel-gazing media, chiding HSN for selling “useless crap.”

If you have ever seen how male journalists dress or their fashion and style sensibilities, you will realize that you can’t expect them to know names like Badgley Mischka, Judith Ripka, Robert Lee Morris, our fellow Montclair, N.J., resident Bobbi Brown, Yves Saint Laurent, Smashbox, Lancome and Dweck. And these brands and artists don’t represent “useless crap.”

Luxury-good makers are hurting, and they need to make up their loss in sales. So they are turning to outlets like QVC, as CEO Mike George explained at a recent Liberty Media conference, as outlets to distribute new lower-priced lines to the masses. George cited fashion designer Vivienne Tam’s QVC alliance at the meeting held in Manhattan by his parent company, Liberty.

“This complete implosion of luxury retailing in America has caused all these folks to rethink their business model,” George said.

And that means partnering with QVC, HSN or ShopNBC.

As we said, it will take the consumer press years to figure out that home shopping channels are distribution powerhouses that have undergone a transformation, in part because of the infllux of talent like a Morris, who does couture jewelry for designers like Donna Karan and RLM Studio sterling silver jewelry for QVC.

The Big Three — QVC, HSN and ShopNBC — are aggressively trying to broaden their audience and potential customer base, those who don’t normally watch any of these three networks. That means the three are actually “programming” the channels, doing “shows” that have entertainment value, not just product shilling, so they will attract non-QVC or non-HSN watchers.

We remember once interviewing a QVC exec years ago and asking what the network’s ratings were. He said ratings were irrelevant: QVC was only concerned about how many products were sold in an hour.

HSN CEO Mindy Grossman

That’s a totally different tune from what we heard recently from QVC’s George, and from the strategies that HSN CEO Mindy Grossman and ShopNBC CEO Keith Stewart have initiated.

Like traditional TV networks, the home shopping players want viewers to “sample” a QVC or an HSN. These new audience members, hopefully, will then see products that they want to buy.

For example, singer Natalie Cole recently did a live concert on HSN to promote a new Holiday CD set she is selling on the channel. If you’re a fan, you might tune in to HSN to see her, and then actually decide to purchase her CD. Artists such
as Jose Feliciano have also performed live on QVC.

QVC alum Stewart on a recent third-quarter conference call pointed out that actress-entrepeneur Suzanne Somers, who came to ShopNBC from HSN, had succeeded in attracting new viewers to Minneapolis-based ShopNBC because she was “entertaining.” And these networks want new eyeballs.

And home shopping networks’ capacity to reach millions of consumers and do fulfillment of orders has not been lost on magazine publishers, celebrities or cable’s reality TV stars. With circulation falling, women’s magazines such as Lucky, Allure, Glamour and Self are partnering with HSN to sell subscriptions.

And stars have seen the light. In a recent interview in Oprah Winfey’s O magazine, Joan Rivers, who’s had a jewelry line on QVC for almost 20 years, told O she was on home shopping when “nobody except dead celebrities was doing merchandise on TV.”

Nowadays, it’s hard to find a celebrity or TV star who doesn’t have a home shopping line. Even Madonna was interviewed on HSN when she was selling her children’s book.

Here’s a partial list:

Paula Abdul, HSN, formerly “American Idol,” Fox

Rachel Zoe, QVC, “The Rachel Zoe Project,” Bravo

Isaac Mizrahi, QVC, “The Fashion Show,” Bravo

Padma Lakshmi, HSN, “Top Chef,” Bravo

Ramona Singer, HSN, “The Real Housewives of New York City,” Bravo

Susan Lucci, HSN, “All My Children,” ABC

Carson Kressley, QVC, “How to Look Good Naked,” Lifetime Television

Dr. Robert Rey, ShopNBC, “Dr. 90210,” E! Entertainment Television

Tori Spelling, HSN, “Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood,” Oxygen

Paula Deen, QVC, Food Network

Rachael Ray, QVC, “The Rachael Ray Show,” syndication

Ingrid Hoffmann, HSN, Food Network and Univision

Home shopping is a big business. ShopNBC is the also-ran in the group, but in the third quarter Stewart made some nice progress cutting its losses. Sales for the Big Three were all down, but down less than previous quarters.

And we are not talking chump change for these networks. The three home shopping channels generated $8.3 billion in net revenue in 2008. QVC domestic posted $4.9 billion, HSN netted $2.8 billion and ShopNBC had $568 million.

Even with revenue still slipping this year, for the first nine months QVC had revenue of $3.308 billion; HSN had net sales of $1.4 billion; and ShopNBC had $372.6 million in net sales.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Good day to all.  I have decided I’m going to write a blog post for most of the full photo shoots I do from now on.  So here is my first one. 

I shot this set on Monday November 23 2009 with Jackie.  We’ve already known each other for a while now, I met her through another friend of mine years ago.  She’s been doing photography as a hobby herself for the past few years, and she’s always wanted to pose for a photo shoot.  I have also wanted to plan a shoot with her for a while now, so we planned one just the other day.  One thing about Jackie… She is dedicated!  She walked for 50 minutes to get to the studio from her house in the cold, damp, and windy weather.  Normally Londoners would take the bus everywhere we go, but there is a city-wide transit strike that started about 2 weeks ago.  We’re all struggling through it.  Anyway, once we met at the school, I brought her to the studio.  She and I went through some of the clothes she brought, and talked ideas.  I didn’t have too much of a plan at all when I went in to this shoot, because my past week has been extremely busy, but we figured things out as we went.  around the middle point Jackie really freed herself up, and got comfortable in front of the cam.  I’m glad she did because we got some awesome poses and spontaneous shots, and this being her first photo shoot, she loosened up pretty quickly.

At one point she was in a pose that reminded me of the famous painting, “We Can Do It!” by J. Howard Miller.  I got her to make a few quick changes in her stance, and roll up her sleeve to reproduce the painting by my memory.  It turned out pretty similar in pose, slightly off, but I did a few changes in photo shop to make it obvious what I was going for.  I’m happy with the outcome.

We shot in three different looks (different outfits), and each is special for different reasons.  We ended the shoot with a normal studio portrait, similar to a school portrait, with better lighting.  It was a great experience working with Jackie.

Thanks for reading, y’all!

Jonathan

***

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Just an update to say that my website is updated (www.erinbanks.com). A long project, well overdue. The new site is more content rich, with extra narrative and chances to see the range of my illustration work. I’ve expanded the galleries for my children’s book, glamour and editorial illustrations. And I’ve also added an online store, and individual galleries for my children’s books. Now onto creating more work to upload! Enjoy.

Good Evening ladies… and gentlemen?

I didn’t get to show you all a picture of my pink disco ball nails yesterday so I thought I would put some pics up today. I’m at work so I used the webcam here.. hopefully the quality isn’t too bad!!!

brand: Milani

name: disco lights – 89.

Personally, I love this polish. I feel so girly and glamorous wearing it. It’s fun and festive – I can definitely see my nails looking like this on new years eve. I think it cost me $7.oo from Loblaws but I wouldn’t put money on it. I’ll try and note the price when I buy new ones from now on. The overwhelming amount of glitter catches the eye more than usual, so if you are looking for a conversation starter, or a bit of extra attention, this is the polish for you. The only negative? (Well, it might only be a negative for me due to my astounding short attention span,) It gets distracting. I would not recommend it to someone like me if you have to study for a midterm. I found myself constantly moving my eyes away from the page and instead to my nails holding the page in place. But like I said, shouldn’t be a problem if you aren’t easily distracted, and I am sure after I wear it a couple more times the novelty of the shade will wear off a bit.. for me at least. On the bright- or should I say glittery – side, there’s no need for jewelery with these over the top nails!

thebigbadwolff’s final verdict: polish fit for a princess

xxoo

A make-up spread shot by Jeon Seung Hwan for Numéro Korea’s December issue. Love love love the concept, I dunno why but the hair made me think of Lady Gaga’s ‘Fame Monster’ cover. I think it’s sad though that I dont see enough of these type of shoots coming from our own UK publications, really our fashion mags need to take a few notes step it up a notch.

Make- Up: Son Dee Sik

Photography By: Jeon Seung Hwan

IMG|SOURCE: TFS

Leuk voor de feestdagen. Op deze blog meer.

Heres the new excentric collection SS10 “Je ne suis pas d’ici” from Fernando Claro.
He is working with a cold and futiristic vision using T body types and volumes.
The grey colors, fluo, black & white and glitters show a pop and glamour inspiration.
We simply love it !
Ps: THE HEELS AND GLOVES are amazing !!!!!!
Heres my favorites:

Appreciate more of Fernando here

Gender: Masculine
Origin: Finnish
Meaning: “enchantment; glamour; charm; spell.”

The name is possibly of ancient origins, but seems to have gone through a revival during the Finnish National Romantic period at the turn of the 20th-century. The name comes directly from a Finnish word used to describe a type of spell, equivalent to enchantment, charm or glamour, and probably refers to the ancient magical arts of the Saami. Itsdesignated name-day is November 18. The name was borne by Finnish actor, Tenho Saurén (1926-2001) pictured left.

Cheryl Cole is happy to admit that she wears hair extensions and – we have to say – they always look silky smooth.

‘They are the same length as my hair and give extra body,’ she explains.

Cheryl goes to Julien Guyonnet at the Antenna Hair Salon in Kensington, London (£750 – £1,000 for full head of extensions).

If you don’t want to break the bank, try do-it-yourself Racoon Clix, exclusively available from Superdrug stores nationwide.

Now the face of L’Oreal, Cheryl also loves Elvive Full Restore 5 Shampoo & Replenishing Conditioner  – which boosts limp, lifeless hair.

Source

While some people start drooling over Thanksgiving as soon as the weather turns, I’m a bit different.  I like Easter, usually because we have a ridiculously unhealthy but fantastic breakfast, there’s a lot less stress and A LOT more ham.  Don’t get me wrong, I do love Thanksgiving: seeing my family, seeing my friends, MASHED POTATOES AND GRAVY – I’m just not a turkey person.  But since there are quite a few people who think Thanksgiving is their favorite holiday, and thus a time to grossly over-indulge, and because I just recently read an article on contestants on “The Biggest Loser,” I thought I’d give out a few of the best and most practical tips I’ve read so far on healthy holiday eating.

1.  Healthcastle.com: Don’t go to the Thanksgiving dinner hungry. This makes sense seeing as so many people are so excited about Thanksgiving dinner, that they forget their normal daily routine of eating breakfast and lunch too.  By eating regular meals throughout the day, you’re less likely to overeat come dinner time.

2. BetterHealthUSA.com: Leave what you don’t want. When I was growing up, I never had to clear my plate, I just had to eat a sufficient amount so that my mother was satisfied and thought I was getting the nutrients I needed.  This isn’t so for many other people.  During holiday time, forget what your parents always used to tell you and for once, don’t clear your plate.  Also, eat more slowly.  It takes a while for the brain to catch up to the stomach, and you’ll probably continue eating way past your stomach is full because you’re brain has yet to say stop.

3. Menus4Moms.com: Alternate high-calorie/alcoholic drinks with water. Not only will this keep you hydrated (and less likely to be hungover the next day), it will cut down on the calories – you’ll be drinking less calorie laden beverages and will also feel fuller quicker, thus eating less too.

4. Weightloss.about.com: Take a walk. Not only does walking after a meal help burn some of those calories, it also helps with digestion.  The weather’s supposed to be great in the Boston-area, so no excuses!

5. Glamour.com: Make better substitution choices. It’s easy to have the great holiday feast without going overboard, do so by making the right choices.  Avoid sides that have “sweetened” or “candied” in the name, sugar just packs on the calories and can make you feel ravenous, and choose regular mashed potatoes or carrots instead.  For the meat, take the white over the dark, as the dark has a much higher fat content.  Also, make wise choices when it comes to dessert.  You can still get your sweet fix with cookies that have half as many calories as that slice of pie.

Eu e a Gi somos muito finas, então vinho com tampa de rosca é algo simplesmente inaceitável nas nossas vidas. Mentira. Quem nunca bebeu o *incrível* vinho Chapinha que atire a primeira pedra!

De qualquer maneira, sabemos que tirar a rolha de garrafas pode não ser uma experiência das mais divertidas, então no vídeo abaixo estão algumas dicas de como realizar essa tarefa tão árdua com muita classe e glamour – tudo sem lascar o esmalte, é ca-la-ro!

WOMEN of all ages, even children, yearn to look like the stars of screen and stage. But it is impossible unless you have about $360,000 a year to shell out.
In Britain, the new woman most girls aspire to be is Cheryl Cole.

Cole is the face and hair of L’Oreal, the ravishingly beautiful judge on Britain’s popular X-Factor, wife of Chelsea and England soccer player Ashley Cole and member of Britain’s top-selling band Girls Aloud. She has just released her first solo album.

The 26-year-old earns more for her work and product endorsements than Victoria Beckham, an astonishing $12.4 million a year.

But Cole is a a tribute to the wonders of modern cosmetic techniques and impossible to replicate in reality.

The Daily Mail newspaper in the UK explains why:

HAIR – $7200 a year

Cheryl Cole’s hair may look natural but her luxurious waves are made of Monofibre acrylic extensions. According to her hairdresser, her extensions used to be real hair but after her own locks became damaged they started using acrylic instead.

The acrylic has to be maintained every six to eight weeks and a full set are needed every three months at around $1300 a time.

EYELASHES – Up to $3300 a year

Cheryl is now never seen without her elongated lashes. She even has her own range of Eylure lashes, along with her Girls Aloud bandmates. Alexsandra Byrne, eyelash and make-up artist for Get Lashed, says: “She’s clever as she chooses lashes that are long but delicate.”

A complete set of lash extensions can cost up to $270, and need maintenance every four to six weeks.

MAKE-UP – $72,000

As the new face of L’Oreal, Cheryl receives around £900 worth of beauty products a month. Lisa Laudat, Cheryl’s personal stylist, is reportedly paid $72,000 a year to do her make-up full-time

DIET AND EXERCISE

Cheryl admitted to having a personal trainer at the start of the year – she says that she has to work hard on her legs – but mostly puts her figure down to hours of dancing, both in Girls Aloud and now as a solo artist. She has shed a stone since her still-slim Girls Aloud look, and now weighs 50.8kg (eight stone), which is in part down to a low-carb diet. She avoids red meat and favours low-fat Japanese food.

EYEBROWS – Up to a year $1500 a year

Not too thin, not too thick and perfectly shaped.Cheryl’s look is most likely achieved with the traditional method of eyebrow threading, where fine thread is twisted around each hair to pull it out. To achieve her look, Cheryl would have to have them done every three weeks, which can cost as much as $80 a go.

TEETH – $17,000 at least

Dr Wyman Chan, Cheryl’s cosmetic dentist from smilestudioLondon, has given her porcelain veneers and whitening treatments to improve her teeth. He says: “Perfecting her smile was of huge importance to Cheryl, so she had four porcelain veneers placed on her front teeth to correct the irregularity.” Veneers are wafer-thin covers that are cemented to the front surface of the tooth, similar to the way false nails are applied, once the tooth is filed down. It costs up to $2700 per tooth.

FAKE TAN – Up to $5750 a year

The company Fake Bake’s celebrity tanner and skincare expert Lisa Fulton says: “When Cheryl started to get media interest, she began using fake tan. She uses our lighter tanning products – only one or two tones darker than her natural skin tone – so she doesn’t have that mahogany look.” To maintain this look, Cheryl has four sprays a month, plus she uses 10 bottles of gradualtanning spray and 10 bottles of instant wash-off spray a year.

STYLISTS AND DESIGNER CLOTHING – $260,000 a year

Although designers clothe Mrs Cole, she still spends a small fortune on fashion. Her two stylists, Frank Strachan and Victoria Adcock, the woman behind her military-inspired outfits, have transformed her from girl-next-door to glamorous goddess. But it costs $80,000 a year for both. It is now estimated she spends $180,000 on clothes each year on top of that.

Source

Cheryl ditches military chic for old-school glamour for new single, 3 Words

For her debut single, Fight For This Love, Cheryl Cole channelled an edgy street vibe and military garb.

A sneak peek of pics from her new single, 3 Words, shows that Cheryl has this time chosen an all together more feminine look, opting for a full-length, floor-sweeping black gown, with her voluminous hair cascading over her shoulders.

The X Factor judge teamed up with The Black Eyed Peas’ Will.I.Am for the new single, which tells the story of a couple who socialise separately and are both hit on by the members of the opposite sex. Cheryl also teamed up with the rapper for 5 songs on her new album.

Three Words is the title song from her number one album, which was released last month, and has already charted at no. 26 from downloads alone, but is officially released on 21 December.

We’re liking the grown-up glam, and can’t wait to see more!

Source

Earth life can be a tough school and the lessons of Earth life and the meanness and cruelty of others can make it challenging for one to maintain their innocence and purity of character. God purity means loving God to such an extent and to such an attunement that no matter how mean or cruel people are, and no matter how tough the lessons of Earth life are, one holds to their unconditional love, faith, trust and patience in God. God purity also means choosing the path of selflessness at all times, never giving into an attack thought, admitting your mistakes when you have made them no matter what the circumstance,  holding to unconditional love and one’s Spiritual ideals at all times, always being the one to apologize when an ego battle has been entered into, being the first to forgive self and others, constantly being vigilant against the negative ego and ever more so the more success you achieve on all levels … It is when all these attitudes and qualities are made manifest that a person demonstrates true unconditional love and purity. Strive at all times to maintain your purity and to not succumb to the corruption, negative ego, glamour, illusion, maya of the lower-self and fear-based reality. This will take enormous consicousness and vigilance on your part, however, the gift and fruit that you will attain is greater than any gift or item you will find in this world. “Be ye faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life!” – Jesus. So let it be written. So let it be done.

© 2009 www.IAMUniversity.org

   Robert Doisneau en fit plusieurs clichés. Le cinéma mondial nous l’envie. Un grand nombre de couples l’échafaude, le massacre, et parfois le réussisse. Il fait la réputation des ressortissants de l’hexagone à l’étranger. Il est le cumule du glamour, de l’élégance, du charme et de l’arrogance française. Le French Kiss.

   Bien qu’il ne faille pas obligatoirement avoir la nationalité tricolore pour le réussir, ce baiser a un goût de bonheur hexagonal lorsque nous le donnons, le recevons ou plutôt … le partageons ! Car il s’agit bien ici d’un partage. Le premier est toujours le plus magique : Sous la pluie fine dans un parc, un pull posé négligemment sur les épaules lors d’un séjour linguistique (cf. « à nous les petites anglaises » de Michel Lang). En dansant lors de l’une de nos premières soirées de lycéen. Dans le hangar à paille du fermier du village avec la petite voisine lors des vacances chez grand-mère… Chacun pourrait citer son propre exemple de cadre, mais le ressenti est certainement presque toujours le même.

   Ce baiser d’amoureux, autrefois désigné comme baiser florentin, aujourd’hui par l’anglicisme « french kiss », fait de nous le haut du podium des « lovers ». Cet échange corporel qui ne peut avoir lieu sans l’once d’un sentiment. Il exprime parfaitement le désir. Il est essentiellement un jeu quelque peu bestial de deux êtres. C’est encore une activité où le français domine et qui fait de lui son rayonnement à travers le monde. N’en déplaise aux étudiants qui partent en Erasmus, il devient alors un atout indéniable pour faire des rencontres et parfaire la langue…

Benjamin GUYOT